Wherever You Go, There You'll Be
by Cirya-chan
Summary: Soujiro has become a wanderer, and faces a ghost of the past. Misao is still with the Oniwaban in Kyoto, but is tired of waiting for Aoshi to come around. What happens when they meet? R&R SM
1. A chance meeting

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Disclaimer: none of the Rurouni Kenshin characters belong to me :*(. Therefore, DON'T SUE ME!!!

*goes and hides behind Soujiro* I don't have any money! Plus Soujiro will protect me! *Soujiro slaps his forehead in annoyance* "I'm not some walking protection wall like Himura-san is." *Soujiro walks away* "Hey, you jerk! Get back here" "You don't own me, remember" *Author gets very mad and chucks a shoe at the back of his head and hits it* "owww, that hurt" "Serves you right".

* **

"_Wandering for ten years. It didn't sound too hard at the time_." Soujiro thought as he walked down a deserted road.

Then he said aloud, "I guess I really wasn't thinking when I said I'd do that; I'm glad I did though."

"_Well, I've been wandering for just two years, and I am just amazed that Himura-san did this for ten."_

He was so busy turning these things over in his mind, that when he rounded a bin it took him a few seconds before he saw a small girl off to the side near a ditch.

He started when he heard a soft sniff and then noticed the girl. Even though it was getting dark, Soujiro could still tell she had been crying. He looked around. There was no one else coming or going down the road. He hesitated, but eventually walked slowly over.

"Do you need some help?" Soujiro asked. 

He heard a faint "uh-huh". Then the girl turned to look at him. She had tears streaks down her face along with some dirt over what was a forming bruise. She had a delicate face with large, honey-colored eyes.

Well, he couldn't help her if he didn't know what was wrong. So, he asked, "What happened."

As if just the thought that something had happened seemed to upset her. Her eyes filled up with tears.

"I…I…" she tried to tell him, but the tears beat her to it and soon her small form was shaking from the crying.

Soujiro sat down next to her and rubbed her back a bit like he had seen some parents do for their children in towns he had pasted through. 

He did this for quite some time all the while muttering "It'll be okay." Soon she started to calm down enough to talk, but she just sat silently and looked at the ground.

Soujiro waited a bit longer. He didn't want to push her or anything, but it was getting dark. If she needed to get back home, they had to get a move on. 

"What happened?' he said softly.

"I fell," the answer was short and came in a cold voice. Soujiro sat, stunned. He knew she was lying, but never imagined those two words could sound so harsh. Especially coming from a little girl no more than eight.

"What really happened?" he asked. She gasped and looked at him, as if no one had ever seen through her lies before now. Soujiro could tell she was trying to stop from crying again. He just calmly looked at her and she all of a sudden grabbed the sleeve of his gi and started to shake violently.

Then he heard, in a small voice, the words "My father hit me."

"Will he be expecting you to come back home eventually," 

Again he heard a soft "uh-huh." Then she looked up at him and added, "I don't have anywhere else to go."

"Do you need to go home now?"

She looked at him with sad eyes, and nodded. She wasn't in much condition to walk to the village he finally noticed, but was still a distance away. So, he picked her up and she clung to his neck as if she might die if she didn't. He felt very sorry for her, and he knew something was not right. Something started to tug at the corner of his mind. He pushed it away. It would do no good to let it come up in his mind because he knew it was not good. Whatever it was.


	2. Changing ways

**Disclaimer:** ooohhhh…. we're off to see the wizard! The wonderful wizard of Oz! Oops…*author is embarrassed that someone caught her singing*. Umm…Oh ya! Ooohhhh.... I don't own Rurouni Kenshin! The greatest show in the world! Because, because.... *someone throws an old boot at author with a "You stink!"* *Author is knocked unconscious**Misao walks up* "What's the matter with you?"

Chapter 2

***Changing Ways***

Misao came through the door rubbing her eyes, " 'lo, everyone...Why do we have to be up so early again?"

"Because, to much sleep is just as bad as not enough." Jiya said matter-of-factly. Normally, Misao would have argued but today she just didn't feel like it. All she felt like doing was going to take Aoshi his tea. Misao thought for a moment and realized that didn't seem to be as important as it would be for her.

Ever since Aoshi had been defeated by Himura, he had been going to the temple everyday to pray and meditate. Therefore, everyday Misao had silently brought Aoshi some tea. She was silent as not to disturb him. Although, whenever she came he didn't even acknowledge her presence, so it didn't really seem to make a difference whether she made a noise or not. He wouldn't notice. 

Okon was at a table and nodded toward another with a tray on it. Misao went over and picked it up.  _"Same old thing."_ She thought. It was the same as yesterday's tray and the day before. All that was on it was some tea in a pot, an empty cup, some sugar, and a spoon.

She walked to the temple. This was the highlight of her day, always! Except today. She got to the temple and went straight to where Aoshi always meditated. She set his tea down next to him. As usual, he didn't make a move. In the back of her mind, Misao said, _"This is getting stupid. Why won't he even talk to me?"  She left the temple with this on her mind._

_"Why did I even think that? I use to love taking Aoshi his tea, regardless if he talked to me."_ When Misao got back to the Aoiya, she had reached a decision. 

Misao walked through the kitchen door and announced, "I'm gonna live on my own for a while!" Ok, being this isn't an everyday comment for Misao everyone just stopped and stared._  Jiya was the first one to recover from shock and stated in a very mature fashion, "WHAT!" Omasu also said something along these lines but a little less bluntly. _

Misao, at risk of giving everyone a heart attack, proceeded to tell her reasons. She said, "I'm just not getting any enjoyment out of what I used to. I think I just need some time to myself." Misao also started nodding as though agreeing with herself over what she was saying. "I don't want to move to a new city or anything. I just want to move maybe a few streets over so that I can have some space to sort everything out."

Everyone was still a bit perplexed over the situation, but finally agreed that it was just hormones. Although, when they told Misao this all that was accomplished was that there were now new kunai holes in the wall. They decided to hold a meeting and went outside to the porch leaving Misao inside with her kunai.

"We can't let her live on her own!"

"It would only be for a little while."

"Why would she be unsatisfied with what she has?"

This continued for a while until Jiya called order, "I think the best thing to do is to let her stay in an inn room not too far away. So, she will not feel crowded by us but close enough so that we know she is safe. Any objections?"

When the entire group had consented, they went in and told Misao that she could stay on her own for a bit. Misao, upon hearing this good news jumped up and hugged the two nearest (who just happened to be Jiya and Shiro). In retaliation to this, Jiya smacked Misao on the head. Then, Misao pulled Jiya's beard. This continued until Okon, to the disappointment of everyone else, stepped between the fighting duo and suggested they go on out to find a room for Misao. 

**Review Replies for Ch.1:**

_Chaosu - _*stares at Sou/Misao flag enviously*  *grins*  you'll find out who the girl is 

            soon enough.

_Vash-chan aka Makoto Almasy – _I like my prologue too!!! *stupidly grins* *then becomes thoughtful*  wait a minute...I'm the author...of course I like my prologue ...*becomes slightly sad* I guess my vote doesn't count...that's not right....*goes off on speech*

_CB-san_ –  glad to hear it!!!...^_^x        

_xxfantasy-angelxx_ -   ^-^ right back at'cha

**Me jabbering about nothing in particular:**

 I just put my new Soujiro poem up!!! It's called "Because of what he said".  I think it's much better than my first one...but that's just me *g*.  I wrote it during Algebra class because it was super boring. zzzZZZ. Oh well...like I said in my bio "if you have any questions or would like me to do something (like more jabbering or being stupid), then you can e-mail me and get a reply back ASAP. (if you don't want me to e-mail you back...tell me)  ^-^x  Many thanks for reading!!! 

"Yeh, she's really thankful." Soujiro says.

Misao agrees with him and adds, "She was so thankful she started jumping up down screaming, 'I got reviews!!! I got reviews!!!' *Misao then adds to Soujiro in a wisper so author can't hear them, "She also is a real nuttcase....she spends more time thinking up ways to screw up her disclaimers, then on the actual story."

*Soujiro and Misao then start walking away chatting about the crazy author*  

*Author just glares at them because she can't really deny any of these facts*

*Author gets an idea and grabs a baseball bat... then waves a cheerful goodbye to all the readers*


End file.
